Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

There are a lot of smart, articulate reviews here and they deserve being acknowledged. However there are two other styles driving me nuts. People fawning over Up as if it is the best thing to happen to music since....uhm, music and their polar opposites, the ones that can't forgive it for not sounding like So or Us. First, Peter Gabriel's first three albums explored a lot of musicial territories, most of them dark and brooding. All of them mildly to highly experimental at times. Of these three most fans agree the third "aka: melting face" album was the one that really broke Peter Gabriel as a substantial talent and shed reason on why he left Genesis. It was bold, set new standards of sound both in quality and timbre and created new music genres. It also introduced things like the Fairlight synthesizer and gated drums. If that term is not familiar listen to "Intruder" from that album and you'll hear the sound of 80's drum sounds. The Fairlight was a computer based sample playback device that could examine sounds and put them together with a lot of different sound qualities. This was one of the first samplers which also are quite popular in music today. However the album was so different that his record company dropped him. Thankfully he found another to distribute it. Based on this tradition of new technology, blurring the lines of distinction between music styles, sounds and new technical advances PG continued with his 4th album, Security, one of the few recordings done completely digital that didn't sound terrible and bright. The Fairlight was back as were African drum troupes and exotic percussion. That's the short history. Then came So, a glossy production with several bright and happy songs that were radio friendly and still not a sell out. It broke Peter Gabriel as a commercial artist. Having gotten that out of his system he tried to reconsile the darkness of previous albums in particular Security and some of the commercial incinations of So winding up with the album Us. To me this is his weakest and monochromatic album. There is a Sledgehammer re-write, Steam, there are certainly some good songs such as Come Talk To Me and Digging In The Dirt, but there is a lot of dense and insular material on this album. Fast forward to 2002 and we have Up. It has managed to polarize many listeners which is always the sign of something different. It is a dark and sad place mostly but it is a creative examination of life, relationships and grief from an adult perspective. Up is not a commercial album. It is similarly dense in a way that Us wasn't. Here there is variety. Some listeners may need to spin this CD several times to hear it but it's there. The opening track "Darkness" conveys the claustraphobic and explosive nature of someone in thought. It does so with an almost industrial styled segment of guitar blasts alternating between quiet, you can almost hear a pin drop dynamics in the verses. I hear John Lennon's ghost on this track at times, like a weird Beatles side project that no one would know about. "Darkness" typifies the album's themes of provoking musical dynamics and introspective lyrics. Also good to hear is PG using his vocal range again. Not simply belting out songs or using soft/loud dynamics but getting back to the different personas found in his work on Genesis' "Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". It's not theatrical this time but it is dramatic. Listen to "Growing Up" for a glimpse of this kind of drama. Actually much of the album is sung dramatically and unlike so many singers that attempt to copy the idea, Gabriel is still the one who does it best and with great taste. Many have slammed "The Barry Williams Show" and this is typical of critics that decide that a seven plus minute song is: 1. the "single" 2. the commercial song - to a degree it's one of the faster paced and more immediately catchy tracks My problem is this. If anyone but Peter Gabriel does this song most would enjoy it, but because he dares to think like you or I that is a bad thing. He's a great musician but he's not god. "The Barry Williams Show" is still a good listen, Up might be a somber album but you don't need take to take it so seriously on every song. For the initiated Up is not So or Us. It is it's own album and not created to thrill you. It isn't hard to anticipate that Mr. Gabiel is making an album for himself and his record company is hoping you'll like it too. For the uninitiated there are sounds of modern aspects of music such as industrial and techno electronica mixed with simmering, at times progressive rock music. They are like an instrument however, not dictating to song but a frequent, subtle shade. This is a smart album and an uncompromising one that expects listeners to actually pay attention and not turn it on at a party. That's no knock as I enjoy fun music too but I enjoy being challenged and I am impressed when someone is willing to share thoughts that challenge me as an adult. If you think you are up to it this is a great album that will repay your time with rewards most rock albums can't. If you are a musician this is a must as it is a study in restraint and compositional arrangement. In summary. So/Us fans, get over it. Old time fans, get it and if it's not happening for you because of the modern spin and use of instrumentation from areas you don't like or understand trust the artist. This is excellent music. And if you are looking for something a little different no matter what kind of music you listen to try Up. Prediction; this will be considered more highly as time goes on.